Silk

Esth. viii. 15. תכרין בוץSILK, Sericum. No mention is made of Silk, in the Latin Text of Scripture, but in three Places. Esth. viii. 15. Mordecai being raised up into Haman’s Place, went cloathed in a Mantle of Silk¹. Ezekiel xxvii. 16. places Silk among the Merchandises that were brought to Tyre. Lastly, St. John, in his Revelation, chap. xviii. 12. speaking of the Downfall of Rome, says, that no longer any Silk shall be seen there, nor the other rich Merchandizes that were formerly brought thither. But the Hebrew Word Buz, which in Esther is translated by Sericum, signifies rather the true Byssus, which is a kind of Silk that comes next to the Shell-fish call’d Pinna, of which we have spoke already in the Article BYSSUS. The Word Ramoth, which in the Vulgate is render’d by Sericum, according to the Chaldee, signifies Precious-stones; Ezekiel xxvii. 16. ראמותaccording to Aquila, Works of Silk; according to modern Interpreters, Coral.

But it is generally thought,² that the Hebrew Word Meshi, which in Ezek. xvi. 10. St. Jerom has translated by Subtilia, fine Linen, signifies Silk. The Septuagint have render’d it by Trichapton³, which some understand of a Web wove with Hair, which Women put upon their Heads, as a kind of Peruke; others, of a Web of Silk, which Women wore upon their Hair. Symmachus translated Meshi by an Head-dress; and Aquila, by flourish’d Work⁴; the Syriac, by a Woman’s Dress. All which shew, that the Antients were not well convinced that Meshi signify’d Silk; and that it is very doubtful whether Ezekiel intended to speak of it or no, or that the Scripture has at all made mention of it; unless perhaps in Isaiah,⁵ where we find the Hebrew word Shericoth, which St. Jerom has translated by Subtilia; and which others translate by Silk, or fine Flax, or crude Flax, of a yellow or whitish Colour; the Seventy, by divided Flax; Symmachus, by carded Flax. One might imagine that the Word Sericum, Silk, comes from forek, which signifies yellow, Isai. v. 7. for such is generally the natural Colour of raw Silk. But in that Passage of Isai. xix. 9. What is meant by they that work in fine Flax? Sherikoth here probably signifies the Colour of the Flax.

The ancient Greeks and Romans had but little Knowledge of the Nature of Silk: They imagin’d it to come from the Country of the Seres, a People of Scythia; that a kind of Spider spun it out of its own Bowels, wound it with its Feet about little Rods or Branches of Trees, and that these Threads of Silk were unravell’d again by Plin. l. 6. c. 17.sprinkling it with Water. Seres lanificio sylvarum nobiles, perfusam aquâ depertentes sylvarum canitiem, says Pliny. The Seres communicated their Silk to the Persians, from whom it pass’d to the Greeks, and from them to the Romans. But the Persians and Orientals for a long Time kept the Secret of manufacturing it among themselves, and would not communicate it to any. ‘Tis still unknown by what Means it came, and how it was work’d up in Pliny’s Time. Its first Appearance in Europe was after the Conquests of Alexander the Great; and even then it continu’d to be so little known, that it was usually sold for its Weight in Gold. About the Beginning of the Reign of Tiberius, a Law was made, which prohibited the Use of Silk Tacit. l. 2. Annal. c. 33. Isai. viii. 6.Garments to Men: Ne vestis seriaca viros fœdaret: None might wear it but Women of prime Quality. Vopiscus assures us, that the Emperor Aurelian refused his Empress a Silk Gown, which she very earnestly desired of him.

The Emperor Justinian, being curious to know the true Method of Making Silk, and desiring to save himself the Expence of buying it of Strangers, about the Year 555, as we are told, sent two Monks into the Indies, to inform themselves in the Silken Manufacture. These Monks, at their Return, made their Report to the Emperor, That it was almost impossible to transport the Silkworms so far alive, but that their Eggs might be brought with more Safety. The Emperor sent them a second time, with a Command to bring some along with them. This they did; and the Managing of them succeeded so well at Constantinople, that it was soon spread over all Europe. They set up Manufactures for them at Athens, at Thebes, and at Corinth. For a further Account, the Reader is referr’d to Salmasius, in his Notes upon Solinus, Tertullian, and the Historiæ Augustæ Scriptores.

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